


Goodbye, Blue

by Write_No_Evil



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Gen, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Langst, Sad Lance (Voltron), Slight Canon Divergence, so much of it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-11 14:04:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11715891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Write_No_Evil/pseuds/Write_No_Evil
Summary: ~Spoilers for Season 3 episodes 1 and 2~Ever since Shiro has disappeared, Lance has noticed that Blue has been acting differently. She is no longer responding well to his commands and she seems to be trying to distance herself from him. Lance is unable to understand why but is unable to ask for help, knowing that the team has much bigger issues. Keith being chosen as the next Paladin shifts both the team's dynamics as well as the Lion's- suddenly Blue is attacking her sisters and taking Lance to a watery planet. It would be an amazing trip if Lance wasn't plagued with the idea that she is about to leave him. Lance finds it hard to accept his new lion and wants nothing more to go back to Blue but can no longer do that, all while battling the idea that he is useless to the team and that even his lion no longer wants him, even if that is not the case.





	1. Chapter 1

Lance sighed and slumped down. He was in his room- technically not his actual room, that one was back on Earth- another sigh left his lips and he let his eyes continue to track the golden blob in the water of the container on his desk. He had managed to create something close to a lava lamp with resources from the castle, changing it so that it resembled the ocean more; he had found several golden lumps and had drawn, in black pen, eyes and scales on them so they looked more like fish. The Paladin slouched forward and crossed his arms, draping them on the cold table in front of him. Lance was deep in thought and he turned his head to gaze out of the window that took up most of the wall to his right. It was finally sinking in now that Shiro was gone. Their leader was gone and they could no longer form Voltron, the universe's only defence against the Gala.

Lance slipped out of his chair so that he could pace in front of the window; it was a habit he'd had since he was young, the pacing helped him to think, especially when it was about something important. The stars outside the glass helped to calm him down and ease his mind, not as much as the sound or sight of an ocean could but it was the closest form of comfort that Lance could get and he was more than willing to take it. Though unsure, Lance thought it had been just under two weeks since their epic showdown with Zarkon. It didn't feel like it. The team hadn't felt so apart since they had first met. Keith had spent almost all of those days in his Red Lion, searching almost desperately for Shiro. Pidge had divided her time between searching for her brother, by going to planets and interrogating them in her critical search for her lost brother, and analysing the clip of her brother being freed- or captured, depending on the person viewing its perspective. It had fallen to Lance and Hunk to defend those who needed it.

That would have been fine for Lance, flying with his lion and beating the bad guys' butts, but recently he felt that his lion didn't seem to be responding like normal. He prided himself on the fact that he had the strongest bond with his lion out of the whole group. This was an obvious statement, Pidge hated nature, was only just beginning to like it, whilst her lion thrived in natural environments; Hunk, a beginner at flying, was too hesitant to fight with his lion properly; Shiro had a lion that was still partially bonded to someone else, and had just gained the Black Lion's trust when he had disappeared. That left Keith. While Lance would admit that the Red Paladin had a strong bond with his lion, Keith spent a lot more time doing personal training than training with his lion. Lance was the opposite and used training with his lion to get out of personal training and so had spent the most time with his lion out of Voltron, consequently leading to the strongest bond. And yet, it felt like she was trying to distance herself from him. He couldn't explain it, couldn't even understand it, but with more pressing issues, like who would be the next Black Paladin, he knew he couldn't distract people with his issues.

Lance stopped pacing and stood in front of the window, one hand coming up absentmindedly to rest on the glass as he stared out into space. His blue eyes closed and he let his mind slow to a stop before reaching out to his lion. It took a few heartbeats before she responded. It was a concern for Lance, who knew she would respond instantly normally. He couldn't help but wonder if he had done something to upset her. And yet, no matter how much he wracked his brain, Lance couldn't think of anything.

"Ah, well. Gotta go to that meeting now," Lance muttered to himself. He turned on his heel and strode to his desk, scooping up his blue helmet and placing it on his head. He checked in the mirror, making sure his armour was perfect. _'Seventy percent of diplomacy is appearance.'_  Lance wasn't sure who had told him that, or what the other thirty percent was, but he didn't have time to try and remember what it was, and instead hurried to the meeting to talk about an alliance with the newly freed planets.

The meeting didn't go very well, Lance, and the other Paladins, knew it would end with someone storming out. Keith was the one who stormed out after slamming his fist on the table in anger over their inability to understand why they couldn't form Voltron. He, Allura and Coran saw their guests out, the action causing both Alteans to raise their eyebrows at his hospitality. Hunk and Pidge went to the training rooms, trying to find Keith and calm him down. Eventually, they all met up in the hangars, where the Black Lion was resting on the floor. Keith was standing in front of it whilst the rest of them lined up behind him. Lance couldn't help but feel sorry for Keith, his rival. He knew that Shiro and Keith were close, and sometimes Lance got the suspicion they were somehow related, so Keith was taking Shiro's... disappearance... hard. Without being prompted, Lance moved towards Keith to console him.

"Hey man, listen. We all miss Shiro. I remember what a thrill it was to meet him for the first time when the two of us carried him out of that garrison hospital." Hunk and Pidge walked over to the two of them, Pidge piping up to tell Keith about how Shiro had been a legend in the Holt house whilst she had been growing up. Hunk added that Shiro had taught him everything he knew about being a pilot. Lance turned to his fellow paladin, and friend, and told him, "you're not the only one hurting, man. We're all right there with you. But you know he would be the first one to tell us that we have to move on." Keith turned to him with a slight glare and Lance was sure that Keith was about to yell at him but Allura spoke up, forcing both males to turn to look at her as she gave her confession. It seemed to be enough as Keith's shoulder's slumped before he turned, with a determined look, and stared at the sleeping Black Lion.

"It's time to figure out how to reform Voltron."

* * *

They were all in what Lance liked to dub the Living Room of the Castle. They had, for the last two _vargas_ , been arguing on how to form Voltron. Lance frowned, doing the maths in his head, a _vargo_ was just over an hour and they had been doing this for at least three, maybe even four, hours. Okay, so around three _vargas_ and a _karg_ , which was around half an hour in Earth time. Lance turned to Pidge, one of their two resident geniuses, wondering how she had yet to figure out the Altean times. He had done that and had begun learning the third level of Altean, which would have been called advanced on Earth but on the castle it was called " _Othoplog_ ". He had found learning the language really easy and he couldn't understand why he could and Pidge, or Hunk, couldn't. They were leagues cleverer than him and it didn't make any sense. Loud arguing had him coming back to reality. Looked like they still hadn't found a way around the forming Voltron problem they had.

"Keith, you piloted the Black Lion when you had to save Shiro. Perhaps you're the one," Coran pointed out, looking at the anti-social teen who was leaning against the wall near the doorway. Everyone else was seated on the sofa, Coarn standing in the middle of them.

"Keith would be the worst leader," Lance couldn't help but interject. Pidge agreed with him and the Blue Paladin felt smug, up until she then insulted him by calling him a goofball. Keith scoffed at him.

"Are you joking?" Lance shot up from his seat.

"I am being completely serious when I say I do not want _you_ to lead me anywhere." The words were harsh and Lance felt a bit bad about his declaration. Keith was definitely taking Shiro's absence the hardest. Insulting him wasn't going to help.

"I don't want to be the leader!" Keith defended. "That's just what Shiro wanted."

Keith realised his mistake, eyes widening but it was too late. His confession was met first with confusion as everyone processed what he had said before they pieced it together that Shiro wanted him to be his successor. Shiro wanted him to be the next Paladin of the Black Lion? Lance frowned at Keith.

"How convenient you're bringing it up now, when Shiro is gone."

"You want the job so badly, you can have it!" Keith fired back at Lance. The conversation soon broke down into an argument as Hunk spoke up, declaring he had called dibs on the head at the start whilst Pidge stood up and pointed out to them that it was her who had found the radiowaves that led them to Voltron. Coran, ever the peacemaker, was the one to stop the argument.

"Hold your _gazurgas_ , everyone! It's not our decision to make. We must allow the lion to decide."

They made their way to the hangar that housed the Black Lion, all of them wanting to see who the Black Lion would choose, hoping that she would both choose and not choose them. As Allura had said, it was a glorious burden and none of them really wanted that on their shoulders. They reached the hangar and crowded around the lion, wondering who would go first. Coran decided, being biased as always to the girls, especially Allura, letting the princess go first then Pidge. Allura strode purposefully into the Black Lion and sat down on the seat. Her slim fingers curled around the handles and she closed her eyes, trying to create a bond with the majestic black beast she was currently in. The cockpit remained dark no matter how much she tried and she left with a sigh. Pidge went, with the same amount of success as did Hunk.

Lance walked in after Hunk, casting a glance back at where his lion was. He knew, deep down, that the Blue Lion was his lion and not even being the Paladin of the Black Lion could make him pilot another lion. He had a bond too strong with Blue for him to betray her like that. Swallowing, he turned his head back and continued up the ramp. Maybe becoming the pilot of the Black Lion would show that Lance wasn't just a seventh wheel, that he was a valuable part of the team and deserved recognition and respect. The tanned male sat down in the seat and took a deep breath.

"Okay, you can do it. This is _your_ moment," he whispered to himself, concentrating hard as he left his mind drift to the Black Lion. This could be his moment to shine, to be in the spotlight for the first time _ever_. Lance continued to try, not giving up even though the Black Lion wasn't responding to him at all. Lance couldn't help the tide of disappointment that crashed over him. He pulled himself out of the chair and trudged out. Guess he was meant to stick to the shadows.

The Blue Paladin stuck around, watching as Keith went in after him, sitting on his helmet with a pout on his lips and crossed arms. They all waited around apprehensively. If the Black Lion didn't take Keith as her Paladin then they would have to search for one suitable for her, which could take forever. They all jumped up as the sleeping lion in front of them woke up, the lights around her body glowing blue as the feline heaved herself to her paws and roared. The lion crouched down after her display and opened her mouth, revealing Keith standing there looking a bit shell-shocked but mostly sullen. Lance couldn't help the flash of hurt across his face at the Black Lion's acceptance of Keith before he felt his face fall, eyes lowering as he realised, for the first time, how little he obviously meant to both the team and now the lions. It seemed that no matter what, Keith would always succeed and he would always fail.

The rest of them rushed to congratulate Keith on becoming the next Black Paladin, and their new leader. They were shocked when Keith refused to accept it. Allura pressed on, insisting that he must accept it. Lance knew it wouldn't work, he could see it in the grim faced look Keith had. Keith didn't want to replace Shiro. The Cuban male could understand his reluctance, as the Paladin of the Black Lion Keith would be their leader and so would have a lot of responsibilities to take on, such as their lives. Shiro had coped well with the stress of being the Black Paladin and had also been a great leader. It was a huge legacy that Keith would have to live up to, a legacy that Lance knew he wouldn't want to have to be compared to. But Lance also knew that the universe needed Voltron who, in turn, needed a leader. Shiro was gone and the Black Lion had chosen Keith to pilot her next. No matter how much Keith didn't want to do it, the need the universe had in Voltron outweighed all his feelings. Lance stepped forward.

"Keith, no one can replace Shiro. But the Black Lion wouldn't choose anybody it didn't feel was worthy to lead Voltron. I respect its choice. And you should too." The speech seemed to touch Keith, as he turned around to face his new lion.

"But who's going to fly the Red Lion?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Go left, Pidge! Hunk, feint right. NO, Pidge, my right! Lance back her up!" Keith yelled at the three of them from the Black Lion's cockpit. He watched, wincing, as the three other lions went in the exact opposite directions to what he wanted. Leading them was a lot harder than Shiro had made it out to be. "Alright, let's do this again," Keith told them, trying to keep everyone's spirits up. They were all thankful that nothing bad had happened that required their help, allowing them the time to practise with Keith in the Black Lion. They had yet to form Voltron but hopefully, they would be closer to doing it by the end of this training session.

Lance grunted, pulling on the controls of the Blue Lion. She wasn't moving very well at all. She was slow and where she had once been able to go around corners smoothly, she now hit into the obstacles no matter how much Lance tried to steer her well. It had pissed Keith of multiple times but Lance refused to tell him why he wasn't being much help. None of the Voltron team needed to be anchored down by his problems, not when they had much more pressing issues. To Lance, if felt like Blue was being slow and clumsy due to being sad. It didn't make any sense which was one of the reasons why he didn't tell anyone.

"C'mon, Blue. What's wrong?" He asked her, watching as the Green Lion got hit by a gun. Lance launched his lion to where the gun was, almost getting thrown out of his seat by the sudden boost of speed. His surprise only increased when Blue aggressively took out the gun by biting it. With an angry roar; she tossed her head up, the gun flying through the air before being crushed again in her teeth. She dropped the smashed metal onto the floor, stomping on it with her right front paw in a final act of belligerence.

"What the hell, Lance?" Keith asked over the comms. Lance was just as bewildered. He tugged on the left control but Blue refused to do anything.

"Ermmm, Blue isn't responding," he told the others.

"What? Why not?" Keith asked, getting distracted by the guns still being fired at him. "Get her up and running."

"Easier said than done," Lance yelled back at him, tapping the console. The Black Lion landed with a loud thud to his left. What happened next shocked them all. Blue whirled over to the Black Lion, jumping from her hind legs and attacked the leading lion. Her teeth snapped around the lion's neck, her claws scratching the black paint from its right forearm. The Black Lion, surprisingly, took the attack and did nothing to defend herself. Eventually, the Blue Lion let go of her sister lion. Her anger, however, hadn't ended. She roared at the leading lion, head snapping to the side to roar at the Yellow and Green Lions that were coming towards them. Once her hostility was clearly shown, the Blue Lion turned around and took to the air, heading towards the atmosphere.

"Lance, what's going on?" Hunk yelled.

"I don't know, she's taken control! I'm not the one piloting her now!" Lance yelled back, panic beginning to set in as he tugged the controls uselessly.

"Hey, this reminds me of that time the Black Lion took Shiro out to where they were created to help them bond. Maybe the Blue Lion's doing that with Lance?" Pidge guessed.

"Yeah, and Shiro said it turned out they hadn't even left the hangar," Keith rebutted. "Lance, get control of him now." Lance bristled at his female lion being called a male.

"Paladins, what's going wrong? Our scanners show that the Blue Lion is rapidly approaching space. Is something wrong with the training on the ground?" Allura's voice cut through on the comms. "Is anyone injured?"

"Lance's lion is taking him somewhere. She's wrestled the controls from him," Hunk told her.

"Hunnnnk!" Lance whined. He could hear Allura shout something to Coran and he rushed to soothe her. "Calm down, Princess. Blue's never hurt me, she's not gonna take me anywhere dangerous. And I have my Bayard and armour. I'll be fine."

"What about us? We're supposed to be training," Keith told him. Lance cursed in Spanish.

"Oh, he's speaking Spanish, he must be stressed," Hunk pointed out.  
  
"Shut up, Hunk!" Lance couldn't help but scream at him. He turned his sight to the rapidly approaching darkness, one of his hands leaving its perch on the control to scrabble around his shoulder to find the seatbelt and plug him in. A few seconds later, he left the gravitational field of the planet they had been training on. The Lion slowed down and Lance sighed as she curled to look at the planet, giving it one last roar before turning and continuing on her journey.

Lance wasn't sure how long he had been travelling. A few taps on the console showed him where he was. Thankfully, he still had contact with the castle so if he was dumped h would be, mostly, fine. The teen gulped as he thought more about being dumped. Was his Lion going to leave him? Blue roared then and a wave of love crashed over him, coming from her through the bond. Lance smiled and relaxed into the chair. "Okay girl, you can take me wherever you want."

Blue slowed down as they approached a ball that was blue. Lance leant forward, peering at the screen to see what it was they were approaching.

"Woah, Blue. Is that what I think it is?" Lanced questioned breathlessly. Eagerly, he tapped a few buttons so that he could zoom into the planet, wanting to make sure he actually was seeing what he thought he was seeing. Before he could get a clear picture though, Blue nosedived to the planet letting its gravity pull her down. Once they had cleared the clouds, which had Lance whooping in delight at the fact that there were _clouds_ , Blue pulled herself out of the dive, the rockets on her paws coming to life to slow their descent. They landed with a dull thud. In awe, Lance popped the buckle to his seatbelt without even looking at it. He had eyes only for the bright blue water that seemed to stretch on for seemingly forever. Blue crouched down, letting Lance out of the cockpit.

"This..... Is this... This... This is... Water! Water!! Oh my God, it's water!" Lanced babbled, the words turning to Spanish in his delight as he turned in circles trying to survey everything. Blue had landed on a small island which was surrounded by so. Much. Water. With a laugh, Lance ran to the where the water was lapping on the sand, stripping off his armour as he did so. The water was warm, just like it had been when he had played in the waters of Cuba. He dived into the water, spinning and turning as he swam below the surface, eventually coming up for air when his lungs were screaming in fire hot agony at the lack of oxygen. When he surfaced, tossing his head to the sides to get rid of the water in his ears, he turned to look at Blue whilst treading water. For a second, he went cold with fear thinking that she had planned this to dump him. Those fears were banished by her calling for him. Lance couldn't keep the beam off his face as he urged her through their bond to come into the water with him. Blue heaved herself up to her paws from where she was sitting and padded to where he was. Due to her being so much taller than him, she scooped him up with her right front paw and brought him, with some difficulty, onto her snout. Lance laughed, tipping his head back to enjoy the sea breeze, as she took him further out. When she felt it was safe, she threw her head up sending Lance tumbling through the air. The boy yelped as he fell before his body took over and straightened into a dive. When he reappeared, she gave him an approving purr.

"Again! Again!" Her Paladin laughed, indulging the child in him that he had been forced to lock away due to fighting for the universe. The Blue Lion did as her Paladin requested, throwing him higher and higher in the air each time and watched, with amazement, as he tumbled and somersaulted through the air but always ended with the perfect dive. Once he was tired from it, she scooped him back onto her snout and moved further out; her Paladin stretched out and laying flat on his back on her snout as he relaxed to her powerful paddling through the water.

"Oh, Blue, it's so beautiful," Lance cooed to her, turning onto his stomach before propping himself up with his hands so his shoulders were in the air whilst his hips were laying on the metal on her nose. She purred at him, feeling the happiness crashing through him. Her last Paladin hadn't liked the water as much as she did and she was extremely thankful that her Lance adored swimming and diving and all the other activities that were possible to do in water. Through their bond, she urged him back into the cockpit being careful to make sure that he didn't fall into the sea. Out where they were it was much colder than the shallows Lance had been splashing in and she didn't want to risk his health. With nimble manoeuvring, Lance was in her mouth 'ooh'ing at the fact that the armour he had discarded on the beach was now in her mouth. She felt him pat the inside of her mouth with fondness as he muttered a quiet, "mother," to her.

Once Lance was in the chair, she did a robotic version of an eye roll as she prompted him to buckle in -he never remembered to do it himself, she curled into herself and dived deep into the water, automatically putting on her headlights so Lance could see all the amazing and exotic marine animals in the water. They explored for a long time, swimming through valleys and exploring caves whilst details about the planet they were on scrolled along Lance's console. Eventually, Blue turned and began making her way back to the shore whilst Lance spoke to her about everything and anything. They stopped off so that Lance could also go out, with his armour and helmet on, and explore the coral reefs before they made their way to the island again. Blue turned and looked towards where the sun was beginning to set, creating a breath taking reflection that had Lance sighing and melancholy running through their bond as he remembered looking at the sunsets back on Earth with his family. She took a picture of the image and then turned her engines on as she started the journey back to the castle. Lance was too exhausted from their fun adventure to navigate back so his lion did it for him, purring constantly to help soothe the male inside her, a male that she loved so much.

Lance began to take over as the castle came into view, flicking switches and pressing buttons to contact the bridge.

"Bridge, this is Lance. Repeat, this is Lance. Requesting open to the hangar door," he told the bridge, slipping back into pilot mode and speaking just like he had been taught by the Garrison.

"This is the bridge, hearing you loud and clear, Lance. Request granted, hangar door number seven opening," Corran replied to him.

"Alright, Blue, let's get docked," he tells her, eyes never leaving the slowly opening door. His hands clenched reflectively on the controls as he began manoeuvring Blue. He didn't have enough time to feel relief at her giving him back control, too busy moving Blue into the hangar. He set her down with barely a thud, Blue telling him he had executed the landing perfectly with pride. He stayed in his seat, doing the post-flight protocol which included where they had gone and how much damage had been inflicted onto his lion, as well as pressing the command for the hangar doors to close. Blue helped him on a few of the things, such as where they had gone. He noticed as he did it that Blue, instead of going to curl up next to the Red Lion at the end of the lined up lions, went to the other side of room and sat on the wall the rest of the pride were facing, a growl coming out of mouth that Lance wasn't sure was directed to the Black Lion or the Red Lion.

Blue notified him of the group marching towards him. He patted her console in thanks before stepping out of the cockpit so she could move him to the ground. She opened her mouth allowing Lance to step out just as the group, led by Keith, reached the Blue Lion.

"What was that?" Keith snarled. Lance was a bit taken back at this aggression in his voice. Blue, feeling it too, snarled at the boy in red, causing the lions on the other side to power up. Lance was the last to draw his eyes back to the group, the fact that it was the Black Lion moving forward to protect Keith and not the Red Lion, who had a stronger bond with the Paladin, keeping his attention.

"I don't know, okay?" Lance confessed honestly. "Blue hasn't been cooperating with me really well," this had Allura looking worried and he rushed to correct himself, "she's not broken but ever since Shiro disappeared she's... I don't know, not playing up... but..." Lance trailed off not knowing how to answer it.

"There's the fact that she attacked the Black Lion," Pidge added, looking thoughtfully at the Blue Lion.

"The Blue Lion did what?!" Allura almost screeched, looking horrified.

"Black's fine," Keith told her. "I don't know why, but she didn't seem to mind it-" he saw Allura's look of utter horror and tried to explain, "it was like she was giving it to Blue, I don't know, like Black thought she deserved it."

"But why?" Hunk asked, peering cautiously at the Blue Lion before turning to look at the Black Lion. Thankfully, the damage done to the Black Lion's leg was minimal. They had found out, when they had come back from the training, that the lions had been built with a mode that was something like the healing pods in the castle. Black had curled up and they had watched as the dents in her metal slowly disappeared. The only thing they had had to do was redo the paint work and now the leg looked as good as new.

"Do you think she's been infected with a virus?" Pidge asked curiously. "Or maybe because we don't have a leader, the lions are also fighting?"

"But we do. Our leader's Keith," Lance told her. That seemed to annoy the Red Lion, who made a weird noise, a cross between a purr and a growl, maybe? Lance didn't have time to describe it as his lion took a step forward and growled at the Red Lion, the growl turning into a roar that showed off her teeth. Red, in turn, snarled.

"Errm, Keith, Lance? Your lions seem to be fighting?" Hunk observed nervously.

"Princess-" Allura turned to face Pidge as the small girl addressed her, "-has this ever happened before?"

"No, the lions have never fought before... at least, I've never heard of something like this," Allura told her, eyeing the lions anxiously. "I think it's best if we take this somewhere else."

"Somewhere else" turned out to be the living room again. Lance leant on the opposite wall to the one that Keith usually leant on, whilst the new leader of Voltron sat down with the rest of the crew. They all grilled him for answers, "where did you go?", "why did you leave?", "why didn't get control back from Blue?". It got to the point where he felt like they were ganging up on him. He felt Blue stir and send him strength through the bond. A smile grew on his face at her support but it fell when Blue suddenly disappeared from his mind. He frowned and searched for her but no matter how much reaching he did, he couldn't get to her. The frown only grew when he felt another presence, lingering in the corners of his conscious. When he tried to reach out to it there was a resounding roar from Blue and whatever it was disappeared. Lance lit up like a fire, feeling Blue come back but he quickly toppled from that high when Blue completely disappeared again, leaving him with only traces of her anger. Keith didn't give the Blue Paladin any time to try and figure what all that was about or what the mysterious thing was.

"You should have come back as soon as possible! What if something had happened? What if the Glara had attacked and we needed to form Voltron? You can't just go off as you please, you're not a child. You're a member of this team, who need you to be there to have their backs and form Voltron if and when we need!" Lanced scoffed at this, rolling his eyes and pushing off the wall with the leg he had bent and placed on it earlier.

"Form Voltron? I believed we tried to do that in training. How did that go? We couldn't. Do you want to know why? It's the same reason for why you wouldn't have been able to form Voltron even after I left," he hissed in Keith's face, having made his way across the room to where he was without noticing it. "Because. We. Don't. Have. A. Red. Lion." That had Keith backing off, though he gave Lance a small glare. Lance decided he had had enough and stormed out of the room, just like Keith had done at the political meeting. Angrily, he stomped down the corridors muttering in Spanish about an idiot with a mullet.


	3. Chapter 3

His finger hit the elevator floor button with more force than he had meant and he winced at the pain that surged through him, waving his finger to try and dispell it. Lance stood back and waited patiently for the elevator to take him to whatever floor he had selected. He had loved elevators as a kid but the feeling had faded as he grew up and realised how deadly they could be if something went wrong. The feeling of fear had been multiplied after he had watched Devil with Hunk one, dark, night back in the Garrison. Neither of them had been brave enough to take an elevator for almost a week after they had watched the movie.

The metal cage slowed to a halt with a ding and opened, revealing the floor he had pressed for. Lance stepped out, eyes roving around the corridor as he took it in. He had no idea where he was. It definitely wasn't the corridor, or floor even, that had their bunks. Deciding to explore, Lance moved onwards to the large door at the end of the passage he was in. The doors opened to reveal the room it was hiding, the scene causing Lance's mouth to drop. It was the pool room but not how Lance remembered it. He took a cautious step in as he glanced around the rest of the room. There were several pools in front of him; a waterfall, the crystal clear water falling loudly into a pool to his left and, to his right, was a long thin pool that curved around. It took him a few moments to realise that it was a river. He sniffed the air, lips splitting into a beam when he picked up the familiar salty smell of the sea. Somehow the room had a pool, river and sea. There seemed to be a table thing near to the pool at the centre so Lance made his way over to it, looking in wonder at all the water.

The table turned out to have the controls for the room on the top of it. Lance tapped a few button, fingers flying over the board to type in a command. A second later, a small rectangular tray pulled out from the side of the table with another rectangle in it. Lance took the thin box from the drawer, which closed, and tapped the bottom centre twice. In his hands was a tablet that had the same controls as on the table. It was small, thin and portable, unlike the table, and Lance took this with him. He ambled along the pool side, toeing his shoes off and rolling, with difficulty, his jeans up so that he could put his feet into the water. Lance set the tablet on his lap, using his second finger on his right hand to tap the screen and fiddle with the controls. The first thing he did was put the room temperature up- he came from a hot climate and hadn't ever gotten accustomed to the cold- and then repeated it with the water temperature.

Lance shifted so that his left hand, which he had previously been using to hold his weight as he slouched back, was free so he could use both hands to navigate the technology on his lap. Not really knowing what he wanted, Lance managed to find the information on the room he was currently in.

"The pool room was designed after planet Waggatha, a planet famed for its picturesque beaches, large waterfalls and seemingly never ending rivers," Lance scoffed at this, knowing that the beaches and waterfalls were a thousand times better on Earth, though they were being increasingly more destroyed by pollution and litter, "and therefore has many pools, two rivers that wind around the whole room and a waterfall. The room has a central pool that can, using the control table, be changed so it is as deep, or shallow, as the swimmer(s) want. Its limit though is 85 kecks... What the hell!! That's like, three levels!" It suddenly made sense to Lance why there had been such a massive gap between him and Keith and the water that had been above them the very first time he had been there. They had gotten the wrong floor and so were standing at the pool's deepest bottom. Getting over that took a few seconds but he continued to read, "the temperature of both the water, in the pools, rivers and waterfall, can be altered to the swimmers' preference, though we recommend a temperature of above 45-" Lance squinted at the word next to it, but couldn't make it. It was probably the Alertean measurement for temperature and so he skipped over it. "-and 160.

"The lights in the pool and outside can be changed in colour and a reflective ball can be brought down from the ceiling." Lance looked up and almost choked on his saliva. What he had thought would be the solid ceiling, was instead made entirely of glass, allowing him an unrestricted view of all the stars. Lance skimmed the writing until he found the section about the ceiling. "We are proud to present the first of its kind, the Unlimited Star Wall and Ceiling Glass (USWG). It is made of an extremely sturdy glass allowing those inside, whether swimming or lounging, to have constant access to the stars. If the stars are not visible (when the castle has landed) there is a program that will project the stars onto the glass, in their exact positions, so people may stargaze at any time whilst docked. The walls and floor of the swimming pool also have this programming, allowing those swimming to literally swim with the stars!" This all seemed so cool to Lance, he knew that Pidge and Hunk would love to have a look at this technology. He flicked through more of the description, some parts too hard for him to translate and others too boring for him to read. He finally found something not interesting exactly but something he knew he needed to know if he wanted to bathe in the water and so began to read aloud again, "the water is cleaned every three-"

"-Lance!"

"-rog-YAHHHH!!" Lance definitely did not scream at the sudden voice of Hunk. The male turned his head and saw his oldest friend in the castle standing in the doorway. His blue eyes watched as Hunk quickly made his way over to the Cuban boy. "Oh, hey Hunk."

"Hey yourself." Hunk smiled at Lance, toeing his shoes off and rolling his loose trousers up so he could sit down with Lance and put his feet in the water.

"Hey, Lance," Lance joked, Hunk rolling eyes good naturedly at their in joke. "How did you know I was here?" Lance asked, his smile dropping from his face as he became serious.

"Dude, it's _you_ ," Hunk told as if that was enough of an explanation.

"Aaand?" Hunk side eyed him with exasperation but never the less continued.

"Whenever you get emotional, you always go to swim-" Hunk looked around him and amended his sentence, "-or just go to bodies of water."

"That's not...." Lance huffed before conceding. "True." Hunk laughed at his behaviour and let his eyes wander around the room, taking in the large volume of water that surrounded them.

"Y'know, I can still remember the first time I saw you swim." Lance turned to look at him, a mixture of shock and scepticism on his face. "Thursday, October 12th."

"You plucked that date out of your head!" Lance denied.

"Nope, I remember it. It was period three as well." Lance looked at him, still not fully convinced. "You were so excited that you were basically vibrating in your need to get into the water. Mr Hedrick was yelling at us and you barged to the front of our group, which I didn't mind cuz I was first and I really didn't want to swim. You just dove in and then dolphin kicked until your head breached the water and then, like, threw yourself into freestyle. It was..." Hunk struggled to find a word to describe it. "Like, almost beautiful, which is weird cuz you're a dude, but your swimming was so beautiful and graceful. You looked so... at home in the water, so at peace, as you thundered across that pool. You even made Mr Hedrick shut up."

"No! Mr Hedrick, as in the Mr Hedrick who never shut up?" Lance asked, eyes widening. Hunk laughed at his friend.

"Yup, that Mr Hedrick. Man, he looked _sooo_ jealous of you. In fact, everyone was so jealous of your ease at swimming. I was both jealous and filled with envy,-"Lance frowned, turning from looking out to where the two rivers joined in front of them and stared at Hunk.

"You do know they mean the same thing, right?" Lance knew that every single one of them was, at the very least, bilingual. Hunk was trilingual, having learnt his mother's language, Samoan, and then his father's, who had come from Papua New Guinea a few years later. English was his third language so Lance knew that, though both of Hunk's parents spoke good English, he may have had trouble defining the two words.

"Yeah I know they're the same," Hunk sighed and rolled his eyes at Lance, "but, like, jealous is a the good type," Lance rose his eyebrow at that, but let his friend continue, "the people who saw you were jealous but they knew that it had taken a lot of time and practise for you to get to that level of swimming, they knew you had sacrificed a lot for it and respected it. Like it was the type of jealousy where they wanted the skill but didn't want to try and gain it themselves."

"Okay, and envy... is?"

"Envy is the bad type. It's where some one not only wants your skill but is angry at how good you are at it..." Hunk trailed off.

"And they're willing to work for that skill?" Lance guessed. Hunk just seemed to deflate a bit more.

"Turns out I didn't want to swim as well as you can as much as I thought I did," Hunk told him quietly, looking down at his stomach. Lance, sensing his friend's sadness, tried to cheer him up.

"Hey," he nudged Hunk's submerged left foot with his right foot, "swimming isn't that great. And it's a skill that you could just about live with without knowing it."

"I'm almost fully Polynesian, it's a skill I should be able to have," Hunk spoke sharply but Lance could hear the hint of dismay, as if he had not lived up to everybody's expectations.

"So?" Lance questioned, shrugging his shoulders. "Remember when we first came to America, we thought everyone was gonna be really fat. But most weren't. It was a stereotype. Polynesians all being able to swim is kinda like a stereotype, I guess."

"Thanks, Lance," Hunk breathed his normal, wide smile reappearing. They sat in silence for a while, lulled by the lapping water around their feet. "You should have seen Mr Hedrick's face, it went completely slack when he saw you swim. _Preeety_ sure he called you a dolphin at one point," Hunk told the Cuban boy next to him. Lance tipped his head back and laughed at that and Hunk couldn't help the happiness flooding him at making his friend happy. He had seen him when they had been arguing in the living room, before he had stormed out, and Hunk hadn't seen Lance look that angry, or scared for that matter, for a long time. It had worried him and he was still wondering why Lance had had such a scared, fragile look on his face at the start of the conversation.

"I wish I was a dolphin, get to breathe under water," Lance murmured, his right foot rising out of the water.

"Dolphin's are mammals, they breathe with lungs, they don't have gills," Hunk told him. He smiled as Lance tutted and rolled his blue eyes.

"You knew what I meant. The ability to hold my breath for up to ten minutes? The ability to dive over a thousand feet? I'd take it in a heartbeat," Lance told him, head falling back slowly so he could gaze out of the glass ceiling whilst his foot fell back into the water with a large splash.

"Would you take that over Voltron?" Hunk asked softly, head turning to look at Lance properly. The other boy hummed thoughtfully. "Lance?"

"Probably not." Hunk knew he should be worried at the "probably" but he also knew how much water meant to Lance, so for him to pick Voltron over water sure told him what he needed. Hunk nudged Lance with his knee.

"Why aren't you in the pool?" Hunk nodded at the water, stirring the water by kicking his foot out of the water and then dropping it back in.

"Didn't have any trunks," Lance told him lazily, his own feet doing figures of eights and disturbing the water near him.

"Remember that time when you were in first year and snuck into the second year's trip to the sea? You weren't even caught!" They both laughed at that memory. "Or the time in second year when we actually were allowed on that trip. We missed the bus back-"

"-Hey! I purposefully didn't get onto that bus so I could spend more time in the sea," Lance told him. Hunk's shoulders slumped from the large sigh he gave but he accepted Lance's explanation.

"Well, Pidge was too busy with her computer that she didn't get on it and I tried to tell her whilst also trying to find you in the water," Hunk smiled without noticing, tipping his head up as he remembered the day fondly, "the bus left and we three were all on our own. I thought we were gonna die there honestly, and then you turned, with that confident grin of yours and told us that you "had this" and dove back into the water. We thought you had left us, you were gone so long, and the sun had set so it was really dark. And then suddenly we hear this splashing and we were scared -don't tell Pidge I said that- but it was you, running up the beach with a boat trailing behind you-" Lance smiled as he recalled that particular day. He had swum for quite some time, searching for the boat he had seen moored up on a small jetty near the coast. He had found it when he had gone exploring but in the dark, and with the strong waves, it had taken him a while to find. "-and then you somehow managed to navigate us back to the Galaxy Garrison!" Hunk turned to him, "seriously, how did you do that? It was night time!" Lance shrugged.

"I used the sea temperature, it needed to stay warm. When it got too cold then we had strayed too much to the east," Hunk looked at him with such big eyes. Lance shifted, unused to seeing someone look at him with such wonder. "That didn't really happen s lot though," Hunk's look of awe didn't cease so Lance continued. "I also used the stars to navigate back."

"So cool!" Hunk squeaked out.

"I guess," Lance shrugged nonchalantly but inwardly felt himself burn with the praise. He leant back, his right hand grabbing the tablet that was still on his lap and placing it behind him. He then moved his arms backwards to brace himself whilst Hunk mirrored him, the pose giving them an easier angle to look at the star dotted ceiling. However, Hunk wasn't staring at the stars but at the tablet Lance had just set down.

"That reminds, when I came in you were speaking this weird language," Lance turned to tell Hunk it was Spanish but Hunk held up a hand to silence him. "I know what Spanish is and that wasn't it," Hunk glared at him as Lance tried to speak again. "Dude, I've heard you speak Spanish. Both awake and asleep." The last bit was muttered but Lance still heard it and glared at him. "So, what was that language?"

"It was..." Lance wasn't sure if he wanted Hunk to know. The Blue Paladin knew that both Hunk and Pidge had tried to learn Altean but both had failed, deeming it too hard for them. If they, the team's geniuses, had failed then how would they react to Lance, the "goofball" who acted childish half of the time and really wasn't anywhere near their intelligence, being able to somehow learn it with little trouble?

"C'mon, you can tell me. Friends, right?" It was the twinkle in Hunk's eyes that sealed the deal and Lance sighed before spilling his guts.

"Fiiiine, it was Altean." If he had thought Hunk looking at him in awe over how he had navigated them back to the Garrison was bad, then the face he was pulling was much, much worse.

"You... speak... wah... learn... Altean?!" Hunk exclaimed. "Oh my god! Lance, that's amazing! Pidge and I had a crack at that but we couldn't do it." Hunk looked at him, this time differently to how he had ever looked at Lance. As if the Cuban was a genius and Hunk was just realising it. Lance didn't like it.

"I guess it's cuz I'm bilingual?" He guessed but knew it couldn't be the case. Hunk was trilingual and he hadn't been able to learn it. "It seems like Spanish," Lance told him, eyes gazing over the water.

"Errm, gonna have to disagree with you there," Hunk told him.

"I don't, it feels similar to when I speak Spanish after not speaking it for a while," Lance turned to the male next to him. "You know, it feels like you're going a home a little."

"I understand the second part of the sentence, but not the first. Sorry pal, but Altean is a lot different to Spanish." The silence they lapsed back into, as they both mulled over what the other had said, was not awkward, it hadn't been for years.

"Knowing Altean must help with piloting Blue." Lance almost jumped at Hunk's voice, it had been silent for such a long time.

"Not really. The lions' can change the language on their controls to their pilot's mother tongue."

"Mine must be broken," Hunk looked troubled at the idea. "Mine's all in English."

"Sometimes they'll change it to the language you speak the most in when you're in the cockpit, which would be English in our situation. They also do it so that you won't accidentally say something in the wrong language which could cost us potentially even our lives." Hunk put on his thinking face.

"Yeahhh, I think I can vaguely remember the controls being in Somoan when I first got into the cockpit. It must have freaked you out to see Spanish writing after such a long time seeing that ugly English language. I know I sure did. I mean, I think, I can't actually remember," Hunk chuckled to himself, his right hand going up to rub the back of his head bashfully. Lance didn't hold it against him that he couldn't remember, the first few days they had gotten their lions had been filled with a lot of fighting, both against Galra and in training. They had all been so exhausted that Lance couldn't remember the language Blue was first in... except he could. It had been in weird squiggles for a few moments before it had switched to Spanish, in a manner that Lance had felt was hesitance. The squiggles had confused him, he hadn't been able to understand what they meant or what language they were until he had picked up a book from the castle's library and discovered they had been Altean.

Lance ran his tongue along the front of his teeth, an action he did whenever he was thinking hard over a decision. Should he tell Hunk about the minor delay in switching languages? Blue had told him that the moment their pilots walked into the cockpit they switched to the Paladin's first language until the pilots knew how to safely use the controls. So why had it taken so long for Blue to turn to Spanish? Could it be that his first language had been Altean? Maybe Alteans had come to earth and he had befriended one, potentially against orders (which would explain why he couldn't remember any pretty Alteans in his childhood) and he had picked up their language. It didn't seem like an extreme idea, after all, Kieth _was_ half Galra. Maybe Alteans, or other aliens that could speak the language, had come to Earth. Lance turned to Hunk, opening his mouth to tell him but found himself chickening out at the last moment. Who was he kidding, it was the stupidest idea Lance had ever had.

"Dude, you must have been over the moon when Blue sat you down on that island."

"Huh? Oh yeah," Lance began, a bit distracted from the thoughts he had had. "Yeah, it felt like I could carve a piece out of it actually," Lance joked. Hunk sighed and tried to imagine the planet again.

"How did you know it was there?"

"I didn't," Hunk turned to face Lance with confusion. "It was Blue who took me there."

"I knew it! well, sorta. Good to know we were kinda partly right," Hunk fist bumped and confused Lance.

""We"? "Partly right"? Hunk, what do you mean?" Lance repeated Hunk in uncertainty.

"Pidge and I tried to defend you against Allura and Keith after your disappearing act," Hunk faltered there, remembering how Shiro had pulled a better disappearing act just a few weeks ago. It took him a few, painful, heartbeats to clear the thought from his head before he picked up from where he had paused. "Although we weren't really right. We said that your lion, since it's the Water Lion, may have heard a distress call from a marine race and so took you to that planet. That's why you lost control of her, and why you were gone so long."

"You... defended me?" Lance queried uncertainly. Hunk looked at him as if the question was obvious.

"Of course, you're our friend." Hunk didn't see the small smile Lance directed to his chest. "Though it was kinda strange."

"What was ?"

"Well, when Keith used the Black Lion to send you a message asking where you were he received no reply. Actually, I'm not sure if the Black Lion even sent it, their bond doesn't seem... well, the best. Keith had to go to Red after we had landed in the hangar and ask her to send another message demanding your whereabouts. She said the weirdest thing though," Hunk turned to look at Lance, making sure he was listening intently and was just as intrigued as Hunk was, before continuing. "Red said that Blue wouldn't want to receive any messages from either her or the Black Lion. Said it was best if the Yellow or Green Lion did it instead. You'd have thought that she'd be pissed at her sister's lack of communication but she seemed pretty accepting of it. Like Blue _deserved_ to be angry."

"Huh, that's weird. Blue didn't say anything about receiving any messages... though I may have been busy frolicking in the waves at that time."

"It was Pidge that got the message of your location and a short message that you were both safe, no backup needed," Hunk paused to let it sink in before finishing his sentence. "I mean, it makes sense that Green was the one who received the message and not Yellow but at the same time, it was also really confusing and weird even." Lance looked at him, not knowing why. Hunk chuckled and gave him a clue as to why it did make sense why the Green Lion was the  one who received the message. "What do all plants need?"

"H2O, CO2, sunshine, enough warmth that their rate of reaction is fast enough but not enough that their enzymes denature," Lance rambled, hoping one of them was right. He couldn't think of anything else. Hunk looked at him in bewilderment.

"How do you know all of this?"

"Biology class."

"Huh," Hunk shrugged. "Guess I was too busy tinkering with something from mechanics that I didn't listen to that class... But yeah, water is the one I was going for. Blue is the Water Lion and the Green Lion is affiliated with the forest, which is basically plants, and plants need water, which is the element that your Lion is associated with. " Hunk turned to look at Lance, his triumphant smile vanishing as he saw Lance's facial expression. "Clutching at straws?"

Lance's head wobbled from side to side as he thought it through, "meh, could be worse. But what does this have to do with the message being weird ?"

"What is weird is that _only_ Pidge was notified about this. Yellow and I were closer to the planet than Pidge was so it would have been easier for Blue to message Yellow, not Green and yet she didn't." Hunk pouted at that, his clever mind whirling through possibilities. "I hope your lion isn't mad at mine. That really would screw the dynamics. Especially since she growled at Keith. She really doesn't want him piloting the Black Lion."

"I don't think she was growling at him. More at the lion itself. But I don't understand it either. Blue's never had any malice towards Kith as far as I can remember but then he becomes the Black Paladin and suddenly she hates him and his lion. Obviously Blue really doesn't want Keith to lead for some reason," Lance tipped his head back. "I wonder why that is though."

"Maybe she's angry that you didn't get picked instead," Hunk supplied. "Or maybe your hatred towards Kieth has finally been picked up by your lion and she hates him too."

"Maybe," Lance mumbled. It didn't seem like Blue, she was too loving.

"But why did she snap and me and Pidge?" Hunk wondered. "Is she mad at our lions, or even us?" Hunk looked from side to side, hoping that Blue wouldn't suddenly appear. She could be really scary, especially when Lance was in danger. Hunk could still remember when Lance had been hurt during the invasion of the castle. Blue had roared so loud that she had caused a sonic boom, which had destroyed a vast number of houses, before smashing herself repeatedly, face first, into the castle roof directly above Lance.

"Don't ask me," Lance mumbled, he kind of wanted the conversation to be over so he could be alone with his doubts and crippling fears. Seeing that Hunk wanted to sit and theorise, Lance forced him to take more part in the discussion. "I think it's kinda like when you're arguing with your older sister, or sibling in general, and your little sibling takes the older sibling's side just to suck up to them. It's annoying and Blue probably snapped at them for doing that. Or for just interfering with her argument with Black. The lions probably would have taken Black's side since Blue did attack without being provoked... though Black did say that she would give Blue that... whatever that meant. But you understand what I mean, it's a little spat between siblings." Lance moved so he could see Hunk's face and deduce what the male thought of his theory. Hunk just looked confused.

"I don't have siblings remember," Hunk told his softly, with a small smile.

"Oh yeah, right." Shiro had never spoken about siblings; Hunk didn't have any; Keith was so secretive about his past and family that Lance didn't know if he did have any siblings and he knew that Pidge did have a brother since she had spent so much time searching for him. Lance was the only one who came from a large family. Thinking of family had his own family coming to mind. Lance felt a pang of pain at missing their voices; their laughter; their hugs; their stories; the food his mother loved to make and even the thing his younger sister called food but was really everything but that.

Hunk's fidgeting had the homesickness dissipating in him and he turned to him to ask, "what's wrong?"

"You can't tell anyone I said this," Hunk told him gravely. Lance agreed immediately, his curiosity being piqued. "Seriously, Lance."

"I solemnly swear not to tell any soul what you are about to say to me," Lance promised. Hunk, seeing the sincerity in his eyes, heaved a large sigh and cracked.

"Your talk of family made me remember-"

"Remember what?"

"Lance!"

"Sorry. Continue, please."

"One night, I woke up hungry so I decided to go to the kitchen to get a midnight snack-" Hunk's eyes sparkled at the prospect of a midnight snack, even if he was just remembering it, "- and I was walking down the corridor to the kitchen when I heard this sound. Sounded like crying. So I go and investigate and guess who I found?" Hunk didn't give Lance anytime to guess before he answered his rhetorical question. "I found Allura. The princess, our strong princess, was crying. So naturally, I was concerned. I asked if she was hurt and she told me yes but not in a way that could be healed by a doctor. I got more concerned at that and she tells me this.. I don't know, it's not a story, but it's-" Hunk gestures with his arms, struggling to find the word. "-it's.. she just told me a bit about her childhood." Lance leant forward, interested in this. He found the Altean culture intriguing and he wouldn't give up the chance of learning a bit of Allura's childhood, especially if it gave him some insight on how Altean children grew up.

"What did she say?"

"She was telling me about her brother-" Lance threw himself back at this information.

"Woah, woah, woah! Hold the boat, tee out," Lanced yelled, arms moving to form a 'T'. "Allura had a brother?! How come we've never been told this." The look in Hunk's eyes told Lance his suspicions were right and that he was probably dead.

"He was similar in age and personality to her and they were really close. All the Alteans loved their Prince, most of all Allura. She adored her little brother more than anyone else. She always played with him; sat with him at feasts; helped him with his chores; helped with his homework; let him braid her hair. She was a great sister. They looked pretty similar too, though he had taken after his father in terms of skin colour, he was a little lighter than Allura. And he had his mother's eyes more than his father's. Other than that, they were basically identical."

Lance's mind jumped to a bad conclusion. "Please don't tell me that they gave the brother away for him to be executed in Allura's place." Hunk's loud reaction, though funny, relieved him. He had been wrong.

"What?! No, Lance. They went to a political party/meeting, Voltron, herself, her brother, her mother and her father. Halfway through, the ship they were in got attacked. Her father, and the other paladins, immediately made their ways to their lions but not before her father told his family to get themselves to an evacuation pod- because they were royalty they had their own, personal pods. Allura held her brother's hand and they made their way to where their father wanted them but in the chaos and stampeding, bigger figures Allura lost her brother in the crowd. Miraculously, her brother managed to get himself to his own evacuation pod," Lance found himself making a sigh of relief but Hunk remained sombre and he knew the bad thing was probably about to come up. "Allura watched through her window, and her father through the Red Lion, as his pod was snatched up by another, smaller ship before being transported away. Allura told me her father pursued that ship, all of Voltron did, but the ship managed to escape by fleeing through a portal. Allura lost her brother on that day. All of Altea mourned for their lost prince for years. Allura grieved the most; she thought that it was her fault, and, had she had held tighter to her brother, he would have gone into his pod, instead of his father's and therefore wouldn't have been kidnapped."

"But that's not fair! It wasn't her fault! You told her that, right?" Lance yelled. Hunk sighed and nodded.

"She thanked me for that 'naïve idea' but said it was her fault and that she would take the responsibility to her death," Hunk sighed and looked out into the stars, brown eyes combing through the pinpricks of white light. "Just imagine, he's probably out there, all alone and scared, wishing for his family."

"He's probably dead, Hunk. Altea fell ten thousand years ago and that had to have happened before that. I don't think Alteans can live _that_ long." Still, Lance couldn't help but feel awful for Allura and her family. He didn't think he'd be able to survive if one of his siblings died. Even thinking about it had a part of him inside breaking.

"His poor mother. She lost a son. I don't think anyone could ever get over that pain." Lance decided not to mention that their mothers back on Earth probably thought that they had lost their children in the same way as the Queen of Altea had; that piece of information would upset Hunk too much. Hunk, feeling the depressing mood falling on them, opened his mouth to try and cheer them both up.

"She said that he was really confident and loved to flirt with everyone," Hunk nudged Lance with his shoulder. "Reminded me a bit of you." The male leant forward, acting as if he was telling Lance a massive, but secret, conspiracy. "Maybe you're the dead Prince of Altea."

Lance snorted, "me? That would be ridiculous. Picture it; me, Allura's long lost brother, back from the dead. I don't even have the Altean ears or marks." Hunk snickered at that before bellowing in laughter as he pictured Lance as a prince.

"Yeah, you're right, definitely not the Prince of Altea." And just like that, the sad mood had lifted. Hunk's mind turned back to what had happened earlier. "Dude! I wish my lion would take me to an island of something I love... hmmmm a planet made of food. Oh! Or how about that mall we went to with Coran to find those weird glass things. That would be a great gift from my lion."

"I don't know, Hunk," Lance told him, voice lowering in volume as the negative thoughts that always seemed to plague him came back with a vengeance.

"Lance? What's the matter?" Hunk asked him in concern.

"Matter? Nothing's the matter. Why would something be the matter?" Lance asked, a little freaked that Hunk seemed to know what he was feeling at that exact moment.

Hunk gestured at Lance's feet, which he had subconsciously pulled out of the water. He had crossed them at his ankles and wrapped his arms around his knees, drawing them closer to his chest as if he could pull comfort from them. "Your feet are out of the water," the male told him kindly.

"It's just that... I don't think it was a gift, as in a you-did-really-well-let-me-reward-you type of gift," Lance's eyes fell from the stars to the water and his facial expression copied it. "I think it was a goodbye gift from her."

"That doesn't make any sense, Lance," Hunk told him. It didn't help though and Lance buried his chin further into his crossed arms. "I mean, your lion isn't just going to ditch you. That's like, not allowed. It has to be somewhere in the book of Paladins and Lions," Lance snorted at this. "There's no way that Blue's going to break her bond with you- is that even possible?!" Hunk calmed down when he saw that Lance was really hung up over this. He placed a large hand on his right shoulder. "Lance, you have the strongest bond with your lion out of all of us. There's no way she'll let you go. I've seen the way she acts around you, she really cares about you. Did you see the way she challenged the Red Lion when it started moving towards you? Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if she had done that to the Black Lion as well. Blue loves you, she's much too protective, and even possessive over you, to let you go." Lance peered up at him and smiled at him. Hunk grinned back at him. Before Lance could open his mouth to thank Hunk, The Yellow Paladin's armband dinged and alerted him to something.

"Ah man. I gotta go. I ran a program earlier and it's done now."

"It's fine, man. Go on," Lance told his Hunk, giving him a small smile to encourage him to leave to go about his business.

"See you later," Hunk called out, hurrying away. He didn't stop to pull his shoes on, in too much of a rush to do much more than scoop them off the floor. Lance watched him leave, the door banging shut in a promise that told him he was all alone again. The Blue Paladin could do nothing but crush his legs closer to his chest, hoping that the action would stop the doubts and insecurities from bubbling up in him. It didn't work, just like he had known it wouldn't.

Blue had never been more distant. Whenever he had had self-deprecating thoughts she would always be there, bounding along their bond to tell him how great he was. If the male concentrated extremely hard he could just about feel a wisp of sorrow that may have come from her. He was unsure but there was a curl of anger in the smokey sorrow that Lance had begun to associate with his lion. He couldn't find any trace of the other being he had felt in his head earlier, so he dismissed it as being a side effect from a long, gruelling day.

Lance, wanting to drown his demons, slipped from the pool side and into the water. The very top of the liquid splashed against his leg, wettening just under the apex of his thighs. Numbly, his fingers move up to pull off the jacket that had been handed down from his father to his oldest brother and then to him. It was still slightly too big for him but his mother had promised him that he would grow into it eventually. He threw the jacket as far away from the edge of the pool as he could, wanting to make certain that it wouldn't get wet. His white and blue long sleeved top didn't receive the same attention to care and he tossed it close to the side of the pool, not caring when the left arm flopped back into the water and got soaked. In his trousers and boxers- the Paladin didn't mind the feeling of his tight jeans clinging to him due to the water, it relaxed him as it reminded him of the times he went to the beach with his family and wore jeans for the trip- Lance waded into the centre of the pool until eventually, he could barely graze the bottom of the pool with his toes. Only then did he let himself fall back so that he was floating on his back. Having had not been in a pool for such a long time, it took him a few seconds to get used to how the pool water buoyed him. Once he was comfortable and relaxed, he did a little skulling so he was in the centre of the pool, only then noticing that directly above him was a dome in the ceiling.

The water lapped gently in his ear, deafening him slightly. He could no longer hear the waterfall or the gushing from the river. Lance revelled in the silence of it, dipping his head further back into the water and felt his nerves be soothed by the familiar way his hair billowed out in the water. His hair was beginning to get long- a sign of the passage of time- and he resolved to get it cut. It was due to the water in his ears that he didn't hear the language he spoke in as he ordered the room to run the star program onto the bottom and sides of the pool. Had he have had his eara above water, he'd have realised the command was not spoken in his mother tongue nor in English. In fact, he would have discovered that it was a language that did not come anywhere near the solar system Earth was in. If he had heard it he would have been shocked at the fluency he spoke it with. Instead, Lance took a deep breath and dived into the water thinking to himself that the manual was right, it was like swimming with the stars before all thoughts drifted away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy... sooo... long time no see?? Wow, it's been, like, a year? Last posted on Septemeber last year so yep. Whoops. You all deserve to know why I've been absent for almost a year. Well, it all began many, many yea- okay maybe not that long ago. As you may, or may not know, I am from Britain. Now, the British education system has it that everyone, at the end of Year 11 (when we're 15/16) have to do GCSEs, General Certificate of Secondary Education. They changed the way it works a few years ago, so instead of sitting 27 exams over the course of 2 years, allowing multiple resits to occur, I had to do 27 exams in 5 weeks. My school gave us mock exams back in November last year, which helps us to prepare for our actual exams and find where we're weak. That meant that I spent a lot of time in Septemeber and October revising instead of writing. After the mocks were over it was almost Christmas, which would have given me a break to write (and recover) but the stupid government have decided to pursue new courses for all subjects, with our year being the guinea pigs for Maths and English and next year's will have the new course for almost all subjects (meaning that we won't be able to resist as we'll have to learn the new course in, I don't know, a year and they're three year courses) so our school, especially the English teacher's, got really worried for us, whoops I meant our grades, and we had an externally marked mocked after Christmas, so I was busy revising 15 poems and Lord of the Flies for that mock. We then had another English mock this time on Macbeth and the Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde. On that day we also had a maths mock so I was busy revising for that as well. That takes us to maybe March?? Afterwards, I would have been revising a lot for my GCSEs. My first one was on the 15th of May (R.E) and my last one was on the 23rd of June (Physics 3). These exams really exhausted me so I spent the rest of that month and most of July recovering. I then went to Trinidad to meet my family I haven't seen for 12 years and didn't write anything there partly due to the socialising and also because I didn't want to take my laptop with me. I got back on like the 28th of August and spent most of my time on Netflix, watching Voltron season 2 in a day. I managed to watch the first 2 episodes of the third season before I was attacked by plot bunnies and resulted in this. I had planned to finish this before posting it but I'm at 12k and I'm still not finished and I know that none of you want to read that in one chapter (which was what I intended this to be).
> 
> I want to thank all of you. I've read every single comment, all of them making me create a sound like I'm dying and so many people have left kudos. I should be writing again, now that I've started I can't stop, though my laptop is being sooo slow. I'm going to my Grandma's for a few days which has no internet but hopefully I'll be able to do a lot of writing there. I've not abandoned any of my fics. My Clint Barton fic and the one with Jason being Damian's Dark Angel (is that its title, I've forgotten.) will be my main priorities as I've planned/plotted many future chapters for them. The Clint Barton one and Animals will be pretty long (20+ potentially) so it'll take a while for me to finish them, I'll also be trying to wrap up the other unfinished ones, such as Magic Spell. Brothers of the League I'm unsure where to go so I'll be staying away from that. I think those are all of the unfinished ones. My plan is to focus on the incomplete fics first and then do some more one shots. I'll also be adding this to other stories/chapter endings so everyone is notified. Again, I am SO sorry that I've basically disappeared from writing for such a long time but I'm back now and, for now, will be writing probably every single day!! I'm not sure when I'll be returning to the other sites I post on and AO3 has kinda taken over my writing so I don't think I'll be making many, if any, reader inserts until I've finished these... non-reader insert? fics. Omg, I'm so happy to be back, I've missed writing . So, to wrap this up, many apologies for not coming quicker, a MASSIVE thank you for your patience and I hope all of you have a great day :D


	4. Chapter 4

Moments after the distress call from Puig was received, the Paladins rushed to their elevators to take them down to their lions. Lance rushed to Blue, calling out to her through the bond to let her know what was about to happen but it felt like he had mentally hit a wall. He tried again, this time with more desperation, only to have the same result. The panic in his body continued to grow as he was repeatedly unable to communicate with his lion. It felt as if Blue was gone completely. The normally enjoyable zip line to Blue was filled with tense nervousness.

Lance pushed his vehicle to its limits, wanting to get to Blue as quickly as possible. The transporter screeched to a halt in front of the lion and Lance jumped out and sprinted to Blue. He skidded to a halt, though, when he saw the blue particle barrier up.

"Blue?" Lance asked, looking up at his lion. He didn't understand why her barrier was up, she never put it up in the castle. He waited for her to bring it down, helmet tucked under his arm yet she still refused to do so.

"Lance, where are you?" Keith asked. Lance groaned.

"My lion's not responding to me," he told him truthfully.

"Figure it out and catch up to us as soon as possible!" Keith directed. Lance groaned again. Knowing his friends were out there and in danger without him to help them made him feel weird as if he was off balanced. The Blue Paladin was unsure what to do, Blue had never locked him out before.

"Lance, we need you. The lions are being attacked," Allura's voice came through the comms. Her statement only made Lance feel worse. His friends were most likely in danger and here he was, inside the relatively safe castle.

"I'm trying!" Lance yelled out, the emotions inside of him welling up and making him begin to fully panic. He distantly heard Allura saying that she was going to see what was keeping him and the anxiety melted a little. Allura knew the lions and so would know exactly what to do. Hopefully. The teen boy waited impatiently for the princess to make her way down to the hangar. He tapped his foot against the ground and began to wheedle his lion.

"C'mon, Old Blue. It's me, Lancey Lance. Open up!" Still, her shield remained up. In anger, Lance shouted out, "Okay, enough goofing around. I mean it. We gotta get out there and help the others." Even with the anger beginning to surge through his voice Blue refused to let him in. Lance glared at his lion and tried to make her feel his anger at her childish action through the bond. Once again, it felt like there was something blocking the bond. Lance dropped to the ground. "Oh, come on! Why are you being mad at me?" He groaned and slumped over, letting his head drop towards his chest. "Wait, do you hate me now?" Lance questioned, looking back up at his lion. He couldn't help the pain and insecurity that laced his voice as he asked her. Blue was the best thing to happen to him. If she hated him, Lance knew he wouldn't be able to cope with it.

The Blue Paladin leant his torso over and crawled the last few metres to his lion. "I'm sorry for wanting to fly the Black Lion. It was just a phase." The lion in front of his remained passive as he sat back. His shoulders fell and he looked to the side. His blue eyes slid back to face her and he put on his flirtatious face. "Hey, Blue, you know what? I gotta say, that's a great colour on you." Normally, Blue loved his flirting. Lance's face fell again when nothing happened. So he tried again. "Oh, are you from outer space? Because your body is out of this world." The boy could do nothing but groan at her continuous lack of response; it was disheartening and Lance threw himself onto the ground.

From the comm in his helmet, he could just about make out the sounds of the fight outside. There were constant firing as well as the grunts from the Paladins as they were hit on from all sides. Pidge yelled "look out" to someone and a second later Keith's voice growled over the comms.

"Lance, get out here now!" All the Cuban male could do was stand back up and pout at Blue. A second later, Allura ran to his side.

"Lance, what's wrong?"

"I don't know," Lance told her, his right hand on the back of his head as he stared at his lion. "Blue is shutting me out." His hand fell from his head as he looked down at the floor. "Maybe Pidge was right. I am just the goofball. Not only am I not meant to be the leader, I guess... I guess now I'm not even meant to be a Paladin." His eyes grew wide when his ears registered a roar. It was distant and sounded nothing like Blue. Both Allura and Lance looked around for the source of the noise. "What was that?"

"It's the Red Lion. You must go to it," Allura told him. Her tone was one of disbelief, with a little bit of hope and a lot of commandment. She was confused as to why the Red Lion had chosen Lance to pilot her, if it was for just this emergency, but she was also very happy that Lance had a lion to pilot. Her mood crashed when Lance refused.

"No way. Keith probably trained her to bite my head off," he paused for a second as he thought before he looked at her. "Maybe she's roaring for you."

"I would love nothing more than for that to be true, but I know the Red Lion is not meant for me. She is choosing you."

"I don't understand," Lance breathed.

"My father built Voltron but he knew Zarkon was a better leader in battle, so he became Voltron's right hand. Lance," Allura stepped forward to place a hand on the male's shoulder. "When you accepted Keith as the new leader of Voltron, it proved that you value a strong team over your own need for glory," Alura's eyes fell from staring into his as she whispered, "just like my father."

"I won't let him down," Lance promised. Allura opened her eyes, once again becoming the strong princess they all knew.

"Go," she whispered. Lance hurried away, grabbing his blue helmet from the floor and made his way to the entrance door, running away from Blue. He kept his eyes on her as he did so, trying to thank her for everything she had done for him as well tell her that this wasn't what he wanted. A second later and he was out of the hanger. Lance turned his head to the front and concentrated on getting to the Red Lion.

The Red Lion let out a purr when he ran to her. It was similar to the noise she had made when he had said that Keith was their leader, after landing from the trip Blue had taken him on. The Paladin slowed down as he drew closer to the lion, unsure what to do. The lion leant down and opened her mouth to let him in. Lance took a deep breath and strode into her cockpit. The sudden onslaught of red felt weird and he rolled his shoulders, trying to get used to the new colour. He felt something nudge him in his mind, most likely the Red Lion herself as she pushed him to seat himself. The moment he did so, the cockpit came to life. Lance clenched his eyes shut as the lion immediately sprung to create a bond with him. Her eagerness to forge a bond with him only made the pain he felt at losing Blue worse.

"Just a sec," he breathed, both for him and her. Thankfully, the presence in his mind backed off. "I don't understand. Do I no longer have a bond with Blue?" He asked sadly. The lion purred at him but before he could do anything, he heard the sounds of the battle being waged in space. "Never mind," he said, grasping the two controls. With a roar of delight, Red flew into space to help her sister lions.

Lance made his way to the Black Lion. He had just witnessed the two of them being hit by the ion cannon and he could hear Keith panting. He flew faster towards them and fired at the dozens of spaceships in front of him, curling in a graceful arc as he did so. Within seconds, he had taken out over thirty of the ships. "Woah," he breathed out, looking out of the side window to see the wreckage he had caused. "You sure are fast," he told Red, the lion purring under his praise.

"Lance? What are you doing in Red?" Keith asked. For some reason, seeing Lance in his old lion caused a small pang of pain in his chest. It felt weird seeing Red being piloted but it also felt weird that the Black Lion did nothing to try and comfort him. Keith wasn't sure if that was just how she was or if it was because they had such a flimsy connection but resolved to try and connect with her when they finished the fight.

The castle began to get heavily attacked, the ion cannon being aimed at it instead of the lions. Pidge and Hunk moved their lions closer to the castle, in case they were needed. Lance zipped in between them as he soared up to attack the ships coming in from above them. He whooped in delight as he turned and curled through them. The Red Lion was extremely agile compared the Blue. Lance immediately felt bad after thinking that. Blue was perfect and this lion, no matter how fast or agile she was, wasn't going to replace her. For a short second, Lance was sure he felt a sense of hurt radiate from the lion. He didn't have time to think about it as he cleared a ball of fire only to be faced with Lotor's ship. He yelped and jerked on the controls, her claws just scratching the metal as she cleared the ship.

"Hey, be careful with Red," Keith yelled at him.

"Oh, fly your own lion, Keith," Lance told him before he crashed into the on coming ships. "I meant to do that!"

"We're really kind of a mess," Pidge observed. "Keith, what should we do?"

"I don't know," their leader told them. "Form Voltron, but we're short of a lion."

"Not anymore," they all looked confused as they heard Allura over the comms. A second later she flew past them in Blue. Lance's eyes grew wide and his heart missed a beat. His right hand left the control to clutch at the armour above his heart as the muscle twisted in pain. His thinking of being able to go back to Blue after this seemed to be wrong. Blue was no longer his. He had... had had such a strong bond with her that seeing Allura pilot her generating a pain that seemed similar to having his heart pulled out. The hurt boy could feel the Red Lion rushing to him but then skirted around the edges of his mind, unsure if he wanted her comfort. In anger, and pain, he lashed out at her and told her that she would never be his lion. Red seemed distressed by that but also accepted it. She didn't speak directly to him but Lance got a strange, almost echo, of her telling him that she would try to do her best. For who, he wasn't sure.

The five lions fought for a few more minutes before the main ship retreated, the smaller ships following its lead. They floated in space as they watched them go before they began talking to each other, riding the wave of euphoria at having won the battle.

"Allura, you and the Blue Lion? How cool is that?" Pidge gushed and Lance couldn't help the wince as the words stabbed him in the heart. Was he not cool with Blue? Though it hurt, Lance didn't say anything. Once again, Red sped to console him but she hesitated and stopped. Even though this was Lance's first time flying her, and he had denied her making a full connection with her, Lance could make out the burning rage the lion felt as the Green Paladin insulted him. It surprised him a how in tune he already was with her despite the minute time he had spent as her Paladin. The idea that he had already begun to establish an attachment with the Red Lion had inner turmoil erupting inside of him. Red, in turn, was struggling too. She was unsure how to reassure the boy. The Red Lion knew the boy was mourning over Blue and she didn't want it to seem like she was taking over her sister's place. Instead, she reached out and patted him lightly on his head twice before bounding away. At Keith's order, they made their way back to the castle.

* * *

Lance looked up at the hulking, blue beauty that sat in front of him. Blue hadn't raised her barrier when he had approached and he had taken that as a good sign.

"Well, Old Blue, we sure had some fun adventures, didn't we? I wanted to stay with you, but, sometimes what we want isn't necessarily what we get," he told her. He could feel his throat closing and had to swallow a few times before he could continue. To Lance, it felt like he was saying goodbye to family- no what he had with Blue was somehow more intimate and stronger than a familial bond. "I'm gonna miss you, buddy." As he was no longer her paladin, Lance could not feel how she strained to reach out to him and console him or tell him how much she didn't want this to happen. There was a wave of anger that took her as she watched the paladin she adored so much begin to break down. Not for the first time, she directed that rage to the Black and Red Lions wanting them to understand how hard it was for her to let this perfect pilot go. With a growl, she told the Red Lion not to get too close to Lance. He was hers and she would fight her if she got too attached to him. Blue could feel Red try and placate her as she promised that she wouldn't do that. Blue knew that Red had expressed an interest in Lance before she had bonded properly with Lance. In fact, pretty much every lion had wanted him to pilot them. He had spent the most time with Blue and so had connected on a much deeper level with his lion than the rest of the Paladins. Every single time they had gone out of the castle, without fail, Lance would clean and polish Blue once she was docked whilst enthusiastically gushing over how amazing she was. The other lions had expressed an interest until eventually, Lance had started to clean all of them resulting in all parts of Voltron adoring the loving Blue Paladin, much to his lion's annoyance. The fact that her normally temperamental sister had so warmly welcomed Lance aggravated her.

Lance, unaware of the struggles Blue was going through, turned at the sound of the door opening. Allura stood there, in her pink armour, clutching her helmet as she took in Lance in front of his.. _her_ lion.

"Pink, huh? Not what I was expecting, but I like it," Lance spoke up. Allura took it as a welcoming sign and strode over to where the male stood.

"Yes. On Altea, we wear this colour to honour our fallen warriors. I wear it to honour the Paladins of old," her face fell as she added, "and Shiro."

Lance dropped his right hand to his right hip, his Bayard shining into existence. "Here. This belongs to you now." Allura took it with surprise. "If I had to lose Blue to someone, I'm glad it was you." Allura wanted to reach out and pull the taller Paladin into a hug as she saw the heartbroken look on his face.

"I.. do not think," Allura began, picking her words carefully, "that you have lost Blue." Lance looked up at her in confusion and she elaborated. "Though Blue let me pilot her, she seemed rather... hostile. As if she did not want me to be there but had been forced to accept it." Allura looked at Lance, this time giving into the impulse to comfort him; she stepped closer to and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Blue loves you. It was very clear to me that she did not want to break the bond with you," Allura turned her gaze to the lion she was speaking of. "In fact, it feels like you still have fractions of that bond. She really does not want to lose you. I believe that was the reason why she has been so aggressive to the other lions," Allura explained softly, her eyes falling to look at Lance. "Ever since Shiro disappeared, I think she knew that there was going to be a change in Paladins. As the Red Lion is the lieutenant of Voltron, her Paladin has been, in emergencies, allowed to pilot the Black Lion. Since Keith is the Red Paladin, the lions knew that there would be a chance that he would be the new leader. The Blue Lion tends to choose a Paladin who is... how do you put in English? The word in Altean is " _Hoanflog_ "-"

"-All rounder?" Lance suggested in. It was the closest he could think of a translation to the word.

"Yes, something like that. The Blue Paladin is the type of person who can get along with everyone due to their adaptability, which is very useful in battle. I remember the Blue Paladin of old managed to pilot all the lions except the Black one," Aluura told him, a smile breaking out as she recalled the pilot doing it. "Blue knew that she was probably about to lose her Paladin, most likely to the Red Lion, who is the exact opposite of her. It makes sense why she was angry to the Black and Red Lions, they played, unwittingly, a part in her having to lose her Paladin."

"It would also explain why they let her be angry with them," Lance observed. "It's because of them that she had to get a new Paladin."

"Lance, I do not want it to seem like I am trying to take your place," Allura peered up at him, her big eyes swimming with her emotions.

"Allura, it's fine! Really. There's nothing we can do about it."

"I do hope I can be as a good a Blue Paladin as you were. Your bond with the Blue Lion was breathtaking. I have never seen a bond quite like that," Allura told him.

"Blue is easy going, she'll bond with you in no time," Lance replied, wanting Allura to go back to being the bright, happy princess that she normally was. Yet Allura just looked doubtful at that.

"I am unsure that Blue will ever warm up to me," she confessed. "When I sat in the seat I got the impression that she didn't want me there- like I was taking your seat and position. She didn't seem very welcoming. It was almost as if she hated me and wanted me gone," Allura turned to face the Blue Lion wistfully. "I don't think I'll ever truly bond with her. And I don't think she wants to bond with me either. She wants you. Only you."

"Allura, just like the Black Lion chose Keith, I respect Blue choosing you," Lance told her. This time it was he who stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Lance sent her a smile. "I'm sure you'll be okay with Blue. "

Unfortunately, they didn't get to spend much more time together. As the main pilot of the castle, Allura was forced to depart from Blue's hangar. Lance looked back up at Blue once last time, blue eyes following the lines he had already memorised.

"Guess this is it, Blue," Lance tried to fight the break in his voice but his eyes were beginning to burn and his throat was once again closing up. He knew he had to cut this short. The Cuban male stepped forward and petted Blue's paw. "It was fun, Ol' Girl. Thank you." The stab of pain at Blue's lack of reaction was pushed down and Lance made his way out of the hangar. He froze when he heard the sound of movement. Spinning around, Lance saw Blue's eyes light up. The lion brought her head up and stared where Lance was, lingering by the door. Her stare remained on Lance, even when minutes had ticked by. Taking a step back, Lance felt a wet trail run from his right eye and down his cheek. Unable to hold the tears at bay, Lance threw his right arm over his eyes and bawled into them as he made his way out, for the last time, of Blue's hangar. The lion's head fell back to rest on her chest moments after he had left, her glowing eyes fading as she powered down. Seeing her previous Paladin cry had been awful and she wanted nothing more to rush over to doors keeping her from him, rip them to shred and get to the weeping boy and give him the happiness he deserved.

Through the link she had with her other sisters, she heard the Black Lion forbid her from doing what she desired. Lance was now Red's Paladin. Red tried to tell Blue how she would try her hardest to love and protect Lance however, Blue couldn't accept it. She snarled at the two lions and retreated away from the connection. All five of them were extremely close but Blue knew she would never forgive them for what they had forced her to do. Lance had towering insecurities, insecurities that only Blue knew about. Her having to lock him out would probably only make them worse. What made her the most furious was that, as much as she wanted to go and comfort him, she had to stay behind the metal door knowing that this was the best for Voltron, even if it wasn't the best for her, or her Paladin. Blue was slightly thankful that none of the lions had given her any tellings off for her cold treatment of Allura. Blue didn't want _that_ Altean piloting her and she had just about refused to make a bond with her; she was still holding out for a miracle that would allow Lance to pilot her again. Blue's only solace was the small, fragmented pieces of her bond with Lance that had managed to survive. Eventually it would be completely gone, either by time or her having to begrudgingly form a bond with Allura. The broken bridge to Lance was not strong enough for her to try and help him stop the tears, which hurt her more than she would like to admit. Blue curled up, content to have this small connection with Lance still. Blue knew that Red had also begun to push for a bond as soon as Lance had stepped into her cockpit- when had she become so eager?- and that they must have partially bonded for Lance to have been able to pilot her, which meant that he had, to some extent, a bond with two lions. Blue knew that both she and Red would have to confront the problem soon in order for Voltron to be formed. A Paladin that had a bond with two lions was unheard of, for good reason as it could easily tear Voltron apart. Yet, Blue was unable to find herself giving single care for the issue. Instead, she let herself drift peacefully in what her favourite paladin liked to call " _dormir_ ".


End file.
